BitTorrent Courted EOS, Filecoin Crypto Creators Prior to Tron Sale

A number of well-known crypto startups had their eyes on BitTorrent prior to its acquisition by Tron’s Justin Sun.

CoinDesk has learned that in addition to Tron and Neo, blockchain governance-focused project Icon and Protocol Labs, the developers of Filecoin, also entered into talks with BitTorrent to explore a purchase.

People familiar with the negotiations say there were two more parties – both in the blockchain space – that were interested in the peer-to-peer file-sharing company. Sources have not indicated that any companies or persons that were not in the blockchain space showed interest.

Justin Sun, the creator of Tron, ultimately prevailed in acquiring BitTorrent, as Variety first reported in June.

BitTorrent’s software in many ways paved the way for today’s efforts toward a decentralized internet, but even still the company had historically struggled to create a profitable business. In late 2017, the company lost its founder and the inventor of its most important…